A Dallas woman was arrested Sunday night after an argument over a man ended in a knife fight between her and a second woman.

Leah Odle, 32, was booked into the Dallas County Jail on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and retaliation, according to jail records.

Police responded to a call at a gas station parking lot in the 5000 block of East R.L. Thornton Highway near Samuell Grand Park around 9:30 p.m. They found the victim, 44-year-old Monica Alvarez, stabbed in her right forearm.

Odle told officers the man who was the catalyst in the argument was her boyfriend, and Alvarez was mad because she couldn’t have him, police said.

Alvarez told police the argument escalated when Odle pulled out a knife and stabbed her in the right forearm. At this point, Alvarez said she pulled out a knife of her own to defend herself.

After she was handcuffed, Odle, who suffered several small cuts to her left forearm, told officers, “When I get out, I’m going to kill her!”

Alvarez was taken to Baylor University Medical Center, and Odle was treated at the scene for her injuries.

The man whom they were fighting over fled the scene before police arrived.

A day after his arrest in Louisiana, serial rape suspect Van Dralan Dixson is being held in a Baton Rouge jail on $5 million bail.

Authorities in Louisiana said they are waiting to receive paperwork from Dallas County so that an extradition hearing for Dixson can be scheduled.

“I’ve been in touch with Craig Watkins,” said East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III. “It’s my understanding that they are expediting this matter and will be providing us with documents in the very near future.”

Dixson, 38, was captured Tuesday afternoon, ending a four-day manhunt for an man believed to have attacked at least nine women in the Fair Park area since June. He currently faces four counts of aggravated sexual assault after having been linked through DNA to those cases.

Dallas police detectives also traveled to Baton Rouge to speak with him, but it is unclear whether he did so. Continue reading →

Local civil rights activists asked black community members to put a stop to black on black crimes at an event Thursday.

Justice Seekers, a Dallas-based civil rights group, hosted a press conference at 12 p.m. at the Bank of America Plaza to demand an end to violence among black communities.

Community leaders should be focused on preventing violence and restoring family structure in black communities in the Dallas area, said Rev. Ronald Wright, executive director of Justice Seekers.

Black-on-black violence makes any violence against black people appear acceptable, he said.

“We can’t blame white folk for doing stuff I do to myself,” Wright said. “It’s got to start at home.”

Leaders in black communities need to take responsibility for their neighborhoods in order to prevent violence, said Justice Seeker member Isaac Steen, a postal worker. However, the criminal justice system also needs to do more than simply send criminals to jail, he said.

“If I’m poor and I cannot afford a good lawyer, then I’m going to the penitentiary,” Steen said. “Once you start rehabbing and stop housing we’ll make some progress.”

In some cases, violence is seen as a form of entertainment, Steen said. Witnesses recorded the fatal stabbing of a man attempting to stop a fight Saturday in Lower Greenville. Those witnesses should’ve intervened instead of recording the incident, he said.

“Why didn’t someone set the cellphone down to diffuse it?” Steen said.

Black students should be encouraged to pursue a college degree to help them work toward a successful profession. Those youths are more likely to come back to their communities and provide a positive influence, said Rev. E.D. Charles of Rose Terrace Bible Fellowship.

He hopes to raise $1 million for scholarships to fund young black community members in the area who may not be able to pursue a college degree otherwise.

“Young people not only need to be developed spiritually, but intellectually,” Charles said. “They want an education, they want to have a good life, they want to be like other people. That’s the way you stop the violence, you change the culture.”

Police arrested a 51-year-old man in the fatal shooting of a woman found dead near Interstate 45 and Simpson Stuart Road in southern Dallas earlier this month, according to police records.

Floyd Murray faces a murder charge in the slaying of Tunesia Lyons, 39. He is being held at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center, where his bail is set at $250,000, according to jail records.

According to public records, Murray was previously convicted of murder in a 1987 Dallas County case. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in that case.

Investigators initially had trouble identifying Lyons and released an artist rendering of her face and a photo of a tattoo on her left calf. Her family saw the sketch and photos and contacted police.

The family also told investigators that Lyons had been associating with a man known as “Black,” who had threatened her before and was known to carry a gun, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Police ultimately located a woman who was with “Black” and Lyons the night before Lyons was found dead. They were at the Paris Adult Book Store on Harry Hines Boulevard near Royal Lane, she told police. Later, at about 3 a.m. on August 5, she saw Lyons and “Black” drive off together, police said. Lyons was found dead about 7:40 a.m.

The woman identified Murray as the man she knows as “Black” in a six-photo lineup, the affidavit said. Police put out a bulletin that said Murray was a “person of interest” in the murder and included his license plate.

Yesterday morning, about 1, officers stopped Murray. He was taken to Jack Evans Police Headquarters, where he told detectives he was with Lyons just before she was found dead, “however he denied any involvement” in her murder, the affidavit said.

Investigators obtained a warrant and searched his vehicle. They performed a process known as “blue star,” which can reveal blood traces in a given area.

A woman accused of severely abusing her disabled teenage daughter said in a tearful jail interview on Tuesday that she has no regrets about using homeopathic and naturopathic treatments she read about on the internet, including stopping her seizure medication.

“I do regret that she’s in the state that she’s in now,” Schandrilla Schlesinger, 37 said during the interview at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center. “I’ve had people tell me over and over that I’m basically responsible for this … it hurts so bad because I know I’ve done everything that I knew to do and it seemed to be working.”

The 15-year-old girl, who suffers from cerebral palsy and a severe seizure disorder, was hospitalized late last month and put on life support, according to police. At the time, her ribs were visible, her cheeks were sunken and she weighed 49 pounds, down from 80 pounds in February, police said.

Schlesinger of Red Bird was arrested on Saturday and faces a first-degree felony charge of injury to a disabled individual causing serious bodily injury. Her bail was set at $150,000 and she remained at the jail on Tuesday evening.

Child Protective Services received five prior reports involving Schlesinger, including one in May. Most of them were connected to seizure-related falls and all of them were “ruled out,” an agency spokeswoman said.

“It becomes part of the bigger picture,” said agency spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales. “Any time that we’ve got information on the family previously we’re going to make sure that we take all of that into account.”

CPS took custody of three younger children, two boys and a girl, and placed them with Schlesinger’s relatives.

Schlesinger said in the jail interview that she has previously taken her daughter off of her seizure medication for years at a time and that she did great.

“I have never really been a fan of medication, ever,” she said. “When I’m in pain and I go through things, I very, very rarely take anything.”

In this case, she said she took her daughter off her medications several weeks ago and that she saw a major decrease in her seizure activity.

“I just decided to, more or less, wean her off of the seizure medications as I did once before,” the single mother said. “In my heart, I felt if it worked once before it’ll work again.

But police wrote in an arrest warrant affidavit that the teen has a new brain injury “due to persistent uncontrolled seizure activity at home and prolonged unresponsiveness at home.”

The diet Schlesinger put her daughter on included fruits, grains, oats and vegetables, she said.

“We have embraced living a holistic lifestyle and it worked out great,” she said.
Schlesinger said she noticed changes in her daughter, including weight loss, but she said she did not think that was a serious problem.

“She was basically going through a detox,” Schlesinger said.

“The only regret that I do have is doing it on my own,” she said. “But as far as the method, no.”

A grenade-wielding man accused of killing two mothers and their daughters has been transferred from Parkland Memorial Hospital to the Dallas County Jail.

Erbie Lee Bowser, 44, was booked into the jail shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday. He is being held on three counts of capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the late Wednesday rampage. His bail totals $6.5 million.

Authorities say he first went to the southwest Dallas home of his former girlfriend, Toya Smith.

Bowser then drove seven miles to the DeSoto home of his 47-year-old estranged wife, Zina Bowser. Police say he busted down the back door and tossed in a hand grenade before fatally shooting Zina Bowser and her daughter, Neima Williams, 28.

Zina Bowser’s two young boys were also wounded by gunfire before authorities say he apparently ran out of bullets. Her 13-year-old son was able to call police.

Authorities say Bowser initially pretended to be one of the victims, but Zina Bowser’s younger son identified him as the gunman.

He was taken to the Desoto city jail but then was transferred to Parkland, where doctors evaluated him for undisclosed injuries.

But an affidavit alleging domestic violence survived the wiping of his record because it was attached to a January 2011 application for a protective order when Zina Bowser filed for divorce. Zina Bowser alleged that he shoved her and threatened to kill her and her children.

She also said she started to call 911, but he grabbed a pocketknife from the nightstand and said, “Call the police and I will execute your kids.”

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, who has gained national attention for his campaign against domestic violence, said this afternoon that he is “devastated” by a domestic violence shooting spree in which four women were killed on Wednesday night.

“It’s a very sad day for anybody that cares about women and women’s rights and children in this city,” Rawlings said in a phone interview.

Erbie Lee Bowser, 44, faces multiple capital murder charges after authorities say he killed his former girlfriend and her teenage daughter in southwest Dallas around 10:30 p.m. and then drove about 7 miles to DeSoto to kill his estranged wife and her daughter. He is accused of tossing a grenade into the DeSoto home before that shooting. Four people were wounded in the shootings.

The mayor vowed to push on in his fight against men who abuse women, nearly five months after he drew thousands to City Hall for a rally against domestic violence. He said he met just yesterday with District Attorney Craig Watkins on the issue and he plans to hold a private meeting by the end of this month with Police Chief David Brown, Watkins and county judges who handle protective orders.

“The real question is, ‘what can we do better as a system?’”

The mayor said he wants to produce a “cross-jurisdictional strategic plan for the city and the county.”

Specifically, Rawlings said domestic violence cases must move faster through the court system.

“Because we don’t have the resources to move these cases along quickly, sometimes they’re a year long before someone is really brought to court,” Rawlings said. “In that interim, the victim pulls away and things change so most of these things start to get dropped out.”

The mayor, a Dallas Mavericks fan, said he recalls seeing Bowser at games when he performed with the zany Dallas Mavericks ManiAACs dance troupe.

Bowser entered the Veterans Court after attacking his wife at her DeSoto home in January 2011. She had filed for divorce and wanted him to move out, according to a protective order application she signed.

As he has in the past, Rawlings referred to men who abuse women as “terrorists.”

“These are terrorists, these are people that are creating terror in our backyard,” Rawlings said. “And if we looked at them in that way we would move heaven and earth to stop this.”

“This is the result of a culture of accepting domestic violence in our city,” he said. “We all do it. And we know people that have hit somebody and we don’t stand up and create a taboo about this the way it needs to be, whether it’s in the media or whether it’s in our personal lives.”

Dallas police homicide detectives interviewed Dasmine Mitchell, 17, about 4 p.m. yesterday. Dasmine, who was reportedly in critical condition, “was asked if she knew who shot her and she stated it was ‘Erbie,’” an arrest warrant affidavit said.

Dasmine is a friend of the family of Bowser’s ex-girlfriend, Toya Smith, 43, and her daughter, Tasmia Allen, 17, both of whom were killed in the shooting at their southwest Dallas home around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Also wounded in that shooting was Smith’s 14-year-old son, Storm Malone.

Dasmine “identified suspect Erbie Bowser from a six-photo lineup as the person who shot her,” the affidavit said. She “identified the suspect as the only shooter.”

Bowser has not yet been brought to the Lew Sterrett Justice Center. He is believed to be at Parkland Memorial Hospital at this hour.

Dallas police have accused Bowser of capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the documents said. The total recommended bail on those charges is $2.5 million.

Bowser is expected to face multiple additional charges in the DeSoto shootings.

The affidavit also says that during a search of the Dallas home, “detectives found 7.62 x 25 caliber cartridge casings inside the residence that were identical, indicating they were fired from the same caliber weapon. Clothing, shoes, and jewelry belonging to the suspect were also found inside … Smith’s bedroom.”

After the Dallas shooting, police believe Bowser then went to the home of his 47-year-old estranged wife in the 100 block of Galleria Drive in DeSoto, busted down the back door, and tossed in a hand grenade, authorities said. The explosion blew out walls and windows, but no one was hurt by the blast, police said.

Police said Bowser then entered the home and shot to death Zina Bowser and her daughter, Neima Williams, 28.

Zina Bowser’s two young boys were also wounded by gunfire before the gunman apparently ran out of bullets. Her 13-year-old son was able to call police.

Constance McKinney, who is the cousin and neighbor of Zina Bowser’s mother, said that the children, 10-year-old Myles and 13-year-old Chris, underwent surgery.

When police arrived at the DeSoto home, Erbie Bowser pretended to be a victim. But police identified him as their suspect and arrested him.

A Dallas-based appellate court on Monday upheld the theft and burglary convictions of former Kaufman County justice of the peace Eric Williams who now stands accused of killing the two men who prosecuted him.

Williams’ attorneys had argued his 2012 conviction should be thrown out. The attorneys contended that the trial judge should not have admitted surveillance evidence into evidence because it was a cut and pasted version. They also argued that jurors should not have been allowed to take notes and use them during deliberations.

The teenager accused of raping and murdering his 6-year-old neighbor left a sealed letter at his home addressed to his mother that said, “I love you. I’m sorry,” according to police documents obtained this afternoon.

The note to Kimberly Holder was among more than 100 items police found in the home of Tyler Holder, 17, following a brief shootout when officers attempted to arrest him on Tuesday morning in the slaying of Alanna Gallagher.

Among other items seized were paper towels with blood, condoms, latex gloves, phones, computers, clothes and red duct tape. Alanna’s hands and feet were bound with red duct tape, according to police.

Police also searched Kimberly Holder’s car and they seized her son’s cell phone, according to the records.

A judge ordered the probable cause affidavits for the search warrants sealed. Lists of items taken when a search warrant is executed cannot be sealed under state law.

Holder is accused of shooting Arlington police Officer Charles Lodatto in the groin area during a struggle with officers at his home on Tuesday. Another officer shot Holder in the head. Both men remain hospitalized.

Holder’s DNA was found on Alanna’s body, according to police documents. He faces charges of capital murder and attempted capital murder of a police officer.